Abstract
BackgroundChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) not only affects pulmonary function but also leads to skeletal muscle dysfunction. The various characteristics of different forms of traditional Chinese exercise lead to inconsistent clinical effects in COPD patients. Hence, the present study carefully combined and rearranged liuzijue, wuqinxi, baduanjin, and yijinjing into a pulmonary exercise program targeting COPD patients.Methods/designThis study is a single-blind, randomized controlled trial. A random number table will be generated by an independent person. Each number will be placed in a sealed opaque envelop to blind assignment. All outcome assessors will be blinded to group assignment.COPD patients between 40 and 80 years of age, with stable medical treatment and no regular participation in regular exercise in the last 6 months will be included. All participants will be recruited from the Respiratory Medicine Department of Yue-Yang Integrative Medicine Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.All participants will continue to follow their medical treatment. They will be randomly assigned to one of four groups in a 1:1:1:1 ratio: (1) usual care (control group, CG), (2) pulmonary exercise group (PG), (3) resistance exercise group (RG), or (4) combined pulmonary exercise and resistance exercise group (PRG). CG participants will receive medical treatment only. PG participants will perform 60 min of exercise twice a day 7 days a week for 3 months, with 1 day’s exercise per week at hospital under guidance and supervision. RG participants will perform 60 min of resistance exercise once a day, three times a week for 3 months, with 1 day’s exercise per week at hospital under guidance and supervision. PRG participants will perform 60 min of prescribed pulmonary exercise combined with resistance exercise for 3 months.The outcomes include the isokinetic strength of peripheral skeletal muscle, surface electromyography, 6-min walking distance, 30-s arm curl test, pulmonary function, respiratory muscle strength, dyspnea, body composition, physical activity, quality of life, and Chronic Disease Self-Efficacy Scale.DiscussionThe results of this study will compensate for the current inadequate understanding of prescribed pulmonary exercise and may provide a new, simple, convenient, and effective home-based exercise intervention for COPD patients.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR-1800017405. Registered on 28 July 2018.
Highlights
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects pulmonary function and leads to skeletal muscle dysfunction
In this study, 3 months of (1) usual care, (2) prescribed pulmonary exercise, (3) exercising with resistance bands, and (4) prescribed pulmonary exercise combined with exercising with elastic bands will be applied as interventions to COPD patients to evaluate the overall effect of prescribed pulmonary exercise on lung function, exercise capacity, skeletal muscle function, quality of life, and psychological function in patients with COPD
We hypothesize that prescribed pulmonary exercise can significantly improve pulmonary function, exercise capacity, skeletal muscle function, quality of life, and psychological function, and that combined exercise induces additional benefits in COPD patients compared with single exercise methods
Summary
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects pulmonary function and leads to skeletal muscle dysfunction. Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an important constituent of the non-pharmacological treatment of people with COPD, including but not limited to exercise training, education, and self-behavioral management It has had significant effects in improving symptoms, exercise capacity, quality of life, and prognosis [3, 4]. Among the diverse methods used in PR, Chinese traditional exercise is a self-healing, functionally integrated aerobic exercise, inducing a possible maximum heart rate of 43–49% predicted [5] and consuming 1.5–2.6 metabolic equivalent units [6] It is potentially suitable for COPD patients to use at home [7]. Six months of home-based baduanjin significantly improved exercise capacity (6MWT) and quality of life in COPD patients [11] These studies have focused on a single type of traditional Chinese exercise as the intervention, with inconsistent clinical effects on COPD patients according to the exercise type. Less attention has been paid to the effect of such exercises on skeletal muscle function and physical activity
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
